The Karen Burt Memorial Award is for the best newly qualified chartered engineer.

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This Year’s Winner

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Previous Winners

The 2022 winner: Emma Walton, Institute of Physics

The 2021 winner:  Eleanor Earl, Institution of Civil Engineers

The 2020 winner: Tina Gunnarsson, Institution of Civil Engineers

The 2019 winner: Mandy Lester, Institution of Chemical Engineering

The 2018 winner: Susan Deeny, Institution of Fire Engineers

The 2017 winner: Madeleine Jones, Institute of Chemical Engineering

The 2016 winner: Clare Lavelle, Energy Institute

The 2015 winner: Helen Randell, Institute of Civil Engineers

The 2014 Winner: Elaine Greaney, Institute of Engineering and Technology

The 2013 Winner: Professor Molly Stevens, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

The 2012 Winner: Kate Cooksey, Institution of Civil Engineers

The 2011 Winner: Dr Gemma Whatling, Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The 2010 Winner: Julie Templeton, Institution of Civil Engineers

The 2009 Winner: Katy Deacon, Institution of Engineering & Technology

The 2008 Winner: Emily Spearman, Institute of Energy

The 2007 Winner: Jane Hunter, Institution of Highway Engineers

The 2006 Winner: Louise Dougan (nee McDevitt), Institution of Highway Engineers

The 2005 Winner: Katy Roelich, Institution of Water and Environmental Management

The 2004 Winner: Suzanne Bland, Institution of Civil Engineers

The 2003 Winner: Jane Wild, Institution of Mechanical Engineers

The 2002 Winner: Helen Marson, Institution of Chemical Engineers

The 2001 Winner: Beth Hutchison, British Computer Society

The 2000 Winner: Una McQuaid, Institution of Civil Engineers

The 1999 Winner: Rebecca Dowsett, Institution of Electrical Engineers

Who was Karen Burt?

As an active member and Council office holder in The Women’s Engineering Society, Dr Karen Burt was a tireless campaigner for the recruitment and retention of women in science and engineering. From her own experience and her extensive research she was regarded as an expert in the management of career breaks and women ‘returners’ to engineering.

Karen graduated from Newnham College, Cambridge and obtained a PhD from Reading University in electron microscopy. She joined British Aerospace Systems at Stevenage as project engineer for scientific satellites and progressed to Senior Systems Engineer before developing an interest in management in the Total Quality Environment, and subsequently becoming Business Acquisition Manager.

Leaving BAe, she set up her own consultancy and was instrumental in establishing the Centre for Advanced Instrumentation Systems within University College, London. She had just accepted a position on the staff of UCL when her career was abruptly ended by a devastating stroke.

Karen is remembered as a gifted communicator and her fight to recover speech and mobility following her stroke was an inspiration to all who knew her.